What has the World Come to?
by nexiumchick
Summary: Hermione has a secret. Wonder what it is? Read to find out, dum dum! Yeah, it's a FredHermione and it's completely redone from the last time I entered it.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, for all of you who will be reading this story, it's one I've had for a while under another name and I'm posting it up here because that user name has been discontinued (by me). I hope you all enjoy it!  
  
Well thank you to all of my faithful readers for joining me on this new chapter of "The Secrets" (only the name has changed). I'm hoping to polish this and make it much more in depth than it was before. I hope I continue to receive the reviews from my old reviewers who really helped me gain inspiration when I was writing. Well, enjoy!  
  
---  
  
What's the World come to?  
  
By the author formerly known as Loppy.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own it.  
  
---  
  
"Oh can it Ron, no one cares!" My younger sister, Ginny, nodded and grinned at my younger brother.  
  
"No, it's just you Fred," Ron spat as he speedily walked through the invisible barrier and onto the platform.  
  
I laughed. It felt good to return to Hogwarts. I hadn't been back since Umbridge had kicked my brother and I out. And now...  
  
As I stepped out into the bustling platform I caught sight of someone. I thought that I knew her, but she was so beautiful. Surely I would have recognized her before if she was that stunning?  
  
I walked over to her and tapped on her shoulder, pointedly ignoring the giggling of the girls she had been talking to. I'm sorry, but don't I know," I broke off.  
  
The girl smiled, revealing a row of perfect teeth. "I'm sorry you can't even recognize me," she said in mock sadness as she tossed her hair over her shoulder.  
  
"Wow! Hermione, you look..." I trailed off, my mind not able to manage the thoughts of Hermione and hot in the same sentence.  
  
"Beautiful? Different? Freakish?" She offered helpfully.  
  
I smirked as I quickly regained my cool. "Always were the walking dictionary, weren't you?"  
  
She blushed, but quickly recovered. "Just because I can read," she said as she poked me in the stomach, "doesn't mean you have to be bitter."  
  
"Ha ha, very funny." I rolled my eyes at her, but couldn't help but appreciate her wit.  
  
She stared at me for a moment longer, but finally decided on not making a comeback. Instead she reached up and gave me a hug and a kiss on my cheek. I grinned and returned the affection.  
  
"Well now that we're not arguing," she laughed, "What are you doing here? Did they really come back; do you have to do the school year over again?"  
  
"The sad thing is, I can't tell if your joking or not! And of course I don't have to repeat a year. Apparently with age, your mind is fading! I was the brilliant one. George was an idiot." She snorted derisively. "I'll just ignore that. Anyway, I'm here to teach; student teach actually, with Flitwick. Charms was always my best subject."  
  
Her hands dropped to her sides and her jaw hung open.  
  
"Y... y... you teaching? And Dumbledore knows this?"  
  
"Of course, m'dear!"  
  
She shook her head and sighed. "Sometimes I think that he really is going nuts."  
  
"Hey, are you two gonna stand like that forever?" Harry popped up beside us, grinning madly.  
  
I blushed the horrible Weasley blush, while Hermione just rolled her eyes. "Of course not. We were just catching up."  
  
"Well I'd finish up because Ron's coming over and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't like this scene." Harry looked at us and smiled brilliantly. "Well, see you on the carriage!"  
  
Hermione pulled away from me. "Oh I absolutely HATE how he thinks I'm his property."  
  
"Don't worry about it," I said, drawing her back to me as I whispered in her ear, "I'm much stronger than he'll ever be."  
  
Hermione smiled, but pulled away, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Yeah, well let's get on the train. WE wouldn't want to miss it."  
  
I reached down to get my large trunk and out of the corner of my eye I saw her do the same. As I stood back up to drag it onto the train, I heard her utter a small moan. Quickly I whirled around to see what was going on.  
  
I saw her standing there staring at her trunk blankly, her face pallid and one hand clutching her stomach.  
  
"What's wrong?" I took her arm firmly in case she felt like passing out.  
  
That seemed to snap her out of the trance she was in. "I'm fine! Really! I just got dizzy. That's all." She smiled, but I wasn't reassured.  
  
"Wait here!" I commanded while I grabbed her luggage and hauled it over to the train. I hurried back over and helped her slowly up the stairs, dragging my own trunk behind me.  
  
"Fred! I'm FINE," she protested, ignoring the appraising looks from the other students at our odd pairing.  
  
"Shut up Hermione," I muttered as we entered Harry and Ron's compartment.  
  
I put on false cheery smile as my brother asked crossly, "What have you two been up to?"  
  
"Oh nothing," replied Hermione airily. "I was just showing him something in my Charms book."  
  
Ron nodded, but from the scowl on his face he didn't believe a word. Harry was too euphoric about leaving the Dursley's to comment.  
  
I shot a questioning glance towards Hermione, but she had already buried herself in her Defense Against the Dark Arts book and was pointedly ignoring me.  
  
.............  
  
(no longer in Fred's POV, obviously)  
  
The train arrived at the school about two hours later.  
  
Fred had watched Hermione closely the whole time, but she had seemed to be fine, joking and laughing along with everyone else. He mentally shrugged and dismissed the problem as just a freak happening.  
  
He was a Weasly, thus thickheaded.  
  
When they stepped out of the train it had begun to rain. Fred drew Hermione close and held his cloak over her head. Hermione smiled gratefully, ignoring the seething looks they were getting from Ron.  
  
"Will you lay off of her?" Ron growled to Fred as he gallantly helped Hermione up the steps.  
  
"Ron, she's not your property. If you don't have the guts to ask her out, then lay off of her."  
  
Ron glared angrily at Fred, but said nothing due to the presence of Hermione.  
  
The carriage ride to the school was a tense affair, silent except for the failed attempts at conversation from Harry. Everyone was relieved when they piled out of the carriage and made their way up the marble steps and into the school.  
  
Fred purposely slowed he and Hermione down by "accidentally" getting his cloak caught in the door of the carriage. When he finally got it undone they began to walk towards school slowly, heedless of the rain.  
  
"So what happened?" Fred peered down at Hermione, but could see only a vague outline of her through the raindrops.  
  
"Nothing, nothing. I'm ok. I'm just tense. I have a big workload this year." She looked at Fred, her eyes begging him not to ask anymore. "And please don't tell Harry and Ron. They'd just... worry."  
  
He nodded ever so slightly, and she relaxed.  
  
"Thanks," she said quietly.  
  
"Why do you trust me, and not your best friends?"  
  
Hermione sighed and shivered as the warm air of the school hit her chilled body. "I don't know. I mean, I do know, but I don't know why I trust you. I mean, sometimes they're just such... guys. They aren't sensitive to when I'm in a bad mood or sad."  
  
"I get it," Fred said as he put his arm around her shoulder, "and know that I'll always be here to talk to."  
  
"Thanks." Hermione's face visibly brightened. "Thanks a lot."  
  
They walked silently together hearing the roar of voices from the Great Hall getting louder and louder.  
  
Hermione stopped in front of the doors. "I'm not really that hungry. I'm just going to go upstairs and go to sleep."  
  
"I'll come with you."  
  
Hermione shook her head. "No, you should go to the feast."  
  
"I'll be fine," Fred said smiling.  
  
Hermione smiled, nestling closer to him and completely missing the smile on his face.  
  
The two made their way slowly up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, reaching it more quickly then they would have liked to admit.  
  
Fred led her to the couch and sat down beside her, sighing softly as her pondered Hermione's secret problem.  
  
Suddenly he stood up, retracting his arm from her waist, where it had settled here comfortably for a while. He looked at her. There was defiantly something wrong, and he wanted to help.  
  
"Hermione. Please tell me what's going on. You said you trusted me. I won't tell anyone what's going on. I just want to know.  
  
"Fred, please! No, just don't ask." Hermione looked at him with pleading eyes.  
  
He looked at her carefully for a moment. She was so wonderful and beautiful. He hated to use this card on her. "I am a teacher. I have the right to know what's wrong with my students!"  
  
"Oh, so now I'm just a student? A few minutes ago I could have sworn it was different." She blushed at this last bit, but pressed on. "Don't you get it? I'm not going to tell you! Leave me alone. Get the hint I don't want to tell you!" She stood up and glared at him with as much intensity as she could muster. Finally she broke and she turned away, retreating up to her room.  
  
Slowly, he sat down into the couch and put his head in his hands.  
  
A/n: Cliffhanger, yay! Hmm, such a tough problem. Wonder what's going on with Hermy? Anyway, read and review blah! 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Without too much delay here is the next chapter! Hooray! It's gone through massive editing so it took a while, so I hope it shows! Oh, and thanks to all of you who helped me on the italics thingy! I'm pretty sure it's working now, and I'm showing off my newfound skills in this here chapter!

I was overjoyed at the amount of reviews I got, especially with ideas about the italics. So these are all of the wonderful reviewers from the first chapter and my plea for help! I was amazed, thanks so much, so a big hearty helping of thanks to:

Mooncheese: Yeah, I feel slightly bad about kicking George out of the story, but I just don't love him as much as Fred. Which is weird, because they're identical. Go figure.   
  
Suddenlyreal: Well read this chapter and you'll see what's up! katelyn-black: Yeah, I promise that this version will be much better than the last (at least I hope.) I'm glad you joined me on this penname as well!   
  
Siria: Thank you! And though you predicted it right, I'll try to keep it interesting!   
  
EVILMWHAA HA HA HA HAA: It made you laugh? Should I take that as a compliment or an insult? Lol. But thanks for reviewing this story too!  
  
iceprincess7133: Oh, I'm sorry about the POV confusion. I will try to be more clear in the future, but I think it will be more third person than first person in the following chapters.   
  
DarkRaven-04: Thanks for the review and for alerting me to the fact that I had mistakenly put this down as a Hermione and Sirius fic. Totally wrong. Guess it's because I love Sirius so much.   
  
TeenTypist: Thanks for the ideas! The web page thing seems to work even though it still doesn't put some things in italics. Oh well.   
  
TeenTypist: Thanks for the review and the help!   
  
SnapesMistress005: You said you were curious? Here's where you can get your answers…   
  
Chelsea Frog: Yeah, I knew the tag thing, but it wouldn't work for some reason. GO figure, but thanks for the idea!   
  
Tomsgurl4lyfe: Well here's your update. Sorry that I didn't get it up quicker though… Stupid real life!   
  
Young Golden Unicorn: Thanks for the good advice! Lol. I will try to hurry just for you!   
  
HermyGWeasley: Thanks for loving the first chapter! I feel so loved! Yeah, and love the penname. Very nice.   
  
Ok, I'll shut up now… ON WITH THE STORY!!!! 

**---**

Chapter Two

Fred was still sitting dejectedly on the couch as the first few students from the feast began to trickle into the Common Room. Soon enough it was filled with the joyful shouts of students getting familiar (or re-familiar as the case may be) with other students. Fred was barely noticed until Harry and Ron walked over to him

" What's wrong? You look bloody pissed," Harry asked. " Is Hermione all right?"

Fred scowled at the question, but did not look up or acknowledge Harry in any way.

"Whaff 'ur probem?" Ron asked as he walked over to the couch munching happily on a still squirming chocolate frog.

"Ron, that's disgusting," chided Harry with a deeply disturbed look on his face.

"What, are you my mother or something?"

Harry rolled his eyes, but ignored him. Instead he asked Fred, "Is Hermione alright?"

"Oh yeah, she's _wonderful,_" Fred muttered. A dark look that neither Harry or Ron could decipher crossed his face as he stood up and stalked off to his quarters.

Harry and Ron looked at each other confusedly, but shrugged and walked up to their room, eagerly chatting about the new Wind-Swept broom.

Meanwhile Fred stalked down the halls to his room right down the corridor, but not before yelling at a group of first years for talking too happily. They stared at him, but hurriedly scurried into the portrait hole.

As he opened the portrait ("_Walloping Wonders_") and stormed into the room he had been shown by Dumbledore briefly, he didn't even bother to look around him.

The room was vast, most of it filled with the tall, wooden canopy bed he would soon be lying on. Touching the red silken sheets, he sighed and tired to think of any reason why Hermione would hate him. Finding none, he jumped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling rising to nearly twenty feet above his head, white and sparkling with the light of nearly one hundred candles lining the walls.

Sighing and turning over onto his side Fred took to staring at the walls, which were painted a pale red, with a single red rose of the same hue lying on the mahogany table next to the bed. The only other furnishings were a large desk stacked high with old, dusty books and a foreboding armoire that towered high above his head.

Tonight, he decided, he had too many things to think about and could care less.

He had thinking to do.

_And I don't enjoy that, _he fumed to himself. Yes, he certainly had a lot on his mind. Well, no. He had one thing on his mind. One large problem. He lay unraveling the mystery until sleep carried him away.

He had a dream.

He was in a dark room, a closet, for what it was worth. From what little light he could see by, he saw there was Slytherin-green moss growing on the walls which was accompanied by a dark slime oozing disturbingly down the walls.

_Fred shuddered and tried to take deep calming breaths. He hated small places._

_'Where is she?' The loud voice reverberated around the room and pounded painfully into his already aching head._

_Fred looked around wildly, but couldn't see the source of the voice. 'Who?' His own voice sounded horribly pathetic compared to the other's._

_'You know what I'm talking about, boy. The mudblood!"_

_'Hermione? Don't call her that you bastard! And what do you want with her?'_

_'Wouldn't you like to know?' The voice asked tauntingly. Fred was forcefully of Malfoy. That is, when he was still alive._

_' Of course you idiot,' he said, knowing he shouldn't get on the bad side of whoever it was, but he was never one for subtlety._

_'Sure,' the voice said knowingly, 'Sure you don't. But enough! Where is she?'_

_'I told you! I don't know! What do you want from her?' Fred asked angrily._

_'Oh, just a bit of blood.' A cold breeze blew around Fred and he shuddered._

_'You stay away!'_

_'I don't have a choice right now. There are two where there should be one.'_

_'What?' Fred asked curiously._

_'There are two people where she is. Not-' the voice stops abruptly and cackled. Another gust of air flows by him._

_'What Hermione-?'_

At this point Fred woke up with a start. He was bathed in a cold sweat.

"That's crazy!" He lay back on his pillow. " But that would explain how she…" His thoughts became convoluted as he grew sleepy. Finally, he submitted to sleep.

In the morning, he had forgotten the dream.

---

The next morning found Harry, Ron, and a very tired looking Fred sitting at the Gryffindor table shoving food into their mouths as quickly as possible. They all looked up as they saw Hermione walked in. When Fred saw who it was, he glowered and quickly looked back at his food. Surprisingly, Hermione looked sad when she saw this.

_What is up with her?_ Fred asked himself.

"Hello 'Mione!" Harry said cheerfully, completely oblivious to Fred.

"Hi guys!" She sat down and smiled at the three boys as she reached for a large plate of bacon. Harry stared.

"What?" Hermione asked curiously when she saw the look on his face.

"Mione, in case you've forgotten, you hate bacon."

" Oh, well-" She looked decidedly uncomfortable, " well, I just want to try it." And with that, she tore ravenously into the bacon. The three boys watched in astonishment as the pile of dead pig quickly melted away into nothing.

After she had finished and Fred managed to stop staring, he stood up with, " Well, I must be going. Have to get ready for class!" He waved cheekily to them and gave a large grin, but his eyes betrayed his true feelings.

"Er, yeah, I better go too," Hermione said as she stood up. "I want to get to class early and talk with Fred about a few of the charms we're going to learn this year."

Harry and Ron nodded, suspicious, but opted to continue to shovel food in their mouths.

She left the Dining Hall and turned right to head down the hall that held the Charms classroom. As she turned a corner, she caught sight of Fred's receding back. "Fred! Fred, wait up," she called down the hall. He made no motion to signal that he had heard her, so she tried again. "Hey Fred!" This time she knew he was ignoring her.

She ran after him, but didn't catch up until they were right outside of the Charms room. She grabbed the sleeve of his robe to stop him, and he finally turned around to look at her, a scowl on his face.

"What do you want?" Fred spat angrily to a taken aback Hermione. "I was the one trying to be nice to you yesterday, but did you care? I was concerned, but what did you do? You blew me off! How do you think that felt? I thought you were my friend and-" He stopped to take a breath and noticed that tears were rolling down Hermione's face. "Oh my god! What's wrong?" He immediately felt horrible. _Damn that stupid Weasley sense of chivalry_. " I didn't mean it. I'm just frustrated and worried about my new job. I understand. Look, just forget it, okay?"

She shook her head and said something indistinguishable from behind her hands. Fred leaned closer to hear her.

"What?"

"I- I," she sobbed.

"Hermione, just spit it out," Fred said softly.

"I," she took a deep breath as if steeling herself, "I'm going to, h-have… a baby." Her eyes were red and her face was blotch as she looked up at Fred. She was just so pitiable.

He stood stunned. "You-?" He broke off, not sure if he could trust himself to say the right thing. He had never been in this situation before- what was he to say?

She nodded.

"Oh my god," he whispered. _This is just so wrong in so many ways. This is Hermione we're talking about. The pure, good one. The one who never does anything wrong… _All of his old ideas and preconceptions had been shattered.

"Fred?" Hermione's voice cracked with restrained tears as she unraveled the look on his face.

"I, er, need to get ready for class." Fred just couldn't think of anything else to say. In fact, he really couldn't think logically at all. He just needed some quiet time.

"Fine." Hermione turned on her heel and marched away.

Fred could still hear her crying even as he closed the door.

---

Harry and Ron came a bit early to Charms so they could talk to Fred. Even they, the thick headed ones, had realized that something was wrong.

They found him quickly enough- pounding his head on the desk at the front of the Charms classroom. He raised his head quickly and acknowledged the with a faint nod, but continued to whack his on the desk.

"Er, may I ask why you're doing that?" Ron's eyebrows were so raised that Harry feared they might disappear into his hair.

"No."

-Ten minutes later-

Flitwick stood on his desk and called out to the students, "Hello and welcome to Charms! As you all know, we have a special guest, Fred Weasley. He is training to take over this position in just a few years when I retire." The look on Flitwick's face was almost euphoric. "Anyway, he will also be circulating around the classroom to help you with anything I cannot."

Everyone clapped, but Fred didn't even acknowledge them. He just stared blearily off into space.

"Erm, yes, anyway. Let's get started! Today we'll be making anti-gravity mist. Now let's practice the wand movements."

Fred laughed to himself as he saw the students clumsily trying to imitate their Professor. He knew the only one who would be able to do it would be Hermione.

_Speaking of, where is she?_

And indeed, she wasn't there. He quickly stood up and went to the front of the room. "Sir, I need to step outside for a moment. I- I have to go get something from my room." He looked down at the tiny Professor who quickly nodded.

Flitwick actually didn't hear him as he was trying to put out a fire started by the infamous Neville Longbottom.

Fred hurried out of the room and went down the hall where he had seen Hermione go. He quickly made his way down the damp hallway and came to the end of the hall. The only door was to the-

"Outside," he muttered. He opened the door and stepped outside into a drenching rain. "My day, isn't it?" He mumbled to no one in particular.

He stood, already soaked to the bone, and decided to go ahead and look for her. He started to make his way around the pond, and nearly tripped over-

"Hermione! Why are you laying here?"

He dropped down beside her and saw her red eyes. Drops of rain and tears mixed together dripped down her face as she looked mournfully at him. As she was saying nothing, Fred had to fill the space.

"Look, I'm sorry. I was just- surprised. You, the perfect Hermione-." At this, she closed her eyes and began to cry harder.

" The perfect Hermione. That's all I am to anyone."

" No! That's not true. I- you- er, you mean a lot more to me than that."

She looked at him. _What was that supposed to mean?_

"You, you're a good friend," he stuttered, wondering why his usually eloquent tongue was getting so tough to use. "But to the present matter. What are you going to do about this?"

"I don't know," she said softly her eyes blinking away the rain as she looked up at the cloudy sky.

"I guess we should see Dumbledore. I mean, you. I'm sure you don't want me."

She looked at him her long, black eyelashes dripping. "Why do you say that?"

Because. For Chrissake, Hermione! It's not mine! Hell, I don't even know whose it is. Why should I be there? You don't want me." Deep down, he was screaming at himself, _shut up! Comfort her!_ But he couldn't. This was all just way too weird.

She sat up slowly, looking at him with hard eyes. "Fine, if that's the way you feel. I can handle this alone! I told you because I thought you actually cared for me! Guess not!"

"No."

"What?"

"No. That's not the way I feel. I-"

"Yes?"

"I," he looked at her and saw those beautiful brown eyes, and knew he had to have her, "I care for you. You're like a sister." Inside, he cursed himself for being a chicken.

"Oh." She looked down at her lap. After a few moments she whispered, "_Krum._"

"Huh?"

"Krum."

"Oh my god!" Fred turned pale. How could he compete with HIM? He looked at her. "We need to see Dumbledore."

He stood up and helped her up. He led her inside and cast a quick drying spell over both of them. Then he led her to the statues at the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

Vanilla coke." He said and the door swung open. They walked into his office.

No matter how many times he went in there, Fred was never failed to be amazed. Just the sheer amounts of strange things in there were overwhelming. There were large bookcases soaring high above their heads, towering up to the high ceiling above.

"Hello Fawkes," said Hermione to the phoenix.

"Hello. What may I do for you two?"

The two jumped; they hadn't even noticed Dumbledore in his chair.

"Er, hello sir. We have a bit of a problem," said Fred nervously.

"Oh. I see. Well, go ahead and sit." Dumbledore motioned to the two chairs in front of his desk.

They both settled down uncomfortably, Hermione on the edge of her seat, Fred sinking down into his.

"So tell me, what seems to be the problem?"

Hermione drew a deep breath. "I'm going to have a baby." No sense in drawing it out.

Dumbledore looked up in surprise. _Hermione? _He thought wonderingly. But he nodded anyway. "So who's the father?" He looked hard at Hermione. " Hope it's not that dirty Krum fellow. Did you hear he got kicked off the team for-"

"I am." Fred stated clearly.

Dumbledore stopped. "Really? Well that's a relief! At least it's in good hands." He smiled kindly at the two. "Now I know this will be hard, but we can make this work…"

Hermione looked open mouthed at Fred, but quickly shut it so Dumbledore wouldn't notice. _Why would he do that for me? After he said all those things and said I was a mere sister to him?_

_Where did that come from? _Fred asked himself.

"Well, I'll send to get some special robes to cover it up. I'm sure you, Miss Granger, will be able to keep up with your work." Hermione nodded vigorously while smiling nervously at the Headmaster. "And you Mr. Weasly, will be sure to take good care of her, am I correct in that assumption?" Fred nodded as well. "Good, then all is well. Tell who you wish, but I will order the robes anyway."

They both stood up, numb. As they walked out of the door, Dumbledore cleared his throat. They turned around expectantly.

"Congratulations."

"Er, thank you sir," Fred said and they hurried out of his office.

"Fred?" Hermione said when they got outside.

"Mm?"

She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss- right on the lips. A shock ran through him as she did so. He leaned onto it, and before they knew what had happened, Fred had her against the wall. She seemed to suddenly realize what she was doing, and pushed him away.

"Sorry," Fred muttered, feeling insanely guilty, even though she _had _started it. "Sorry."

Hermione blushed and looked down. "It's not your fault. I- just- I- thank you for today, in the office," she finally managed to say.

"Yeah, no problem."

---

A/N: Okay, I'm not all that thrilled with this chapter but it's better than before, so that's good. I'm sure this will go under revision again… sometime. So stay tuned for that. Cheers!


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